The Impact of Unresolved Family-of-Origin Trauma on Marital Vulnerability: A Narrative Analysis
Bibliographic record
Abstract
This study aimed to explore how unresolved trauma from the family of origin contributes to vulnerability in adult marital relationships, as narrated by individuals with early adverse experiences. Using a qualitative narrative research design, the study involved semi-structured interviews with 22 adult participants (12 women, 10 men) residing in Canada, all of whom self-identified as having experienced significant trauma in their family of origin. Participants were selected through purposive sampling to ensure diversity in marital status and background. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved and were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic narrative analysis. NVivo software was used to facilitate coding and pattern recognition across transcripts. Analysis revealed three overarching themes: (1) Emotional Echoes of the Past, including internalized shame, hypervigilance, and emotional disconnection; (2) Intergenerational Transmission of Dysfunction, encompassing the repetition of conflict patterns, projection onto partners, and distorted marital roles; and (3) Struggles Toward Healing and Relational Resilience, characterized by efforts to break cycles, rebuild emotional literacy, and reprocess family narratives. Participants' stories illustrated how unresolved trauma shaped emotional regulation, attachment, and relational roles, while also highlighting transformative strategies employed to foster marital growth and stability. Unresolved family-of-origin trauma significantly influences marital vulnerability through embedded emotional and behavioral patterns. However, individuals are also capable of relational healing through narrative reconstruction, boundary-setting, and conscious re-engagement with emotional intimacy. The findings underscore the importance of trauma-informed approaches in marital therapy and advocate for deeper clinical attention to clients’ family histories and narrative frameworks.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.005 | 0.010 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.005 | 0.004 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.004 | 0.004 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.004 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".